


A Space to Watch Things Grow

by justpassingthrough



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ben is an anonymous sperm donor, Established relationship between Rey and Poe in the beginning, F/M, Fluff and Crack, IVF, Rey has a YouTube channel, TTC, Trying To Conceive
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-05 06:48:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15164984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justpassingthrough/pseuds/justpassingthrough
Summary: Rey is one of many YouTubers vlogging about her and her boyfriend Poe's journey trying to conceive. No longer bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, they have dealt with negative after negative for the past 13 months. It's become an obsession for Rey and a source of increasing frustration for Poe. After trying everything from religiously charting her basal body temperature and ovulation cycle to attempting in-vitro fertilization, they decide to pick a sperm donor.When Donor 1138 signed up with the California Cryobank, he offered some basic information about himself: that he had a BFA from Juilliard; that his mother was a college professor and his father was in the Baseball Hall of Fame; that his birthday was March 29, 1987. He made it clear that he didn't want to be found by signing a waiver of anonymity.Rey and Donor 1138 aren't meant to know each other exists and definitely not to ever call one another by name.What happens when Rey meets the actual father of her growing child?





	A Space to Watch Things Grow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hi guys! Welcome back to my channel!" She offers an exuberant wave, making sure to keep her eyes on the lens and not the viewfinder. "If this is your first time watching one of my vlogs, my name is Rey and I make videos chronicling my TTC journey! I live with my boyfriend in Santa Monica, California and this is our fourteenth month of trying to conceive, but only our third month undergoing IVF. Today is Friday, June 8th. It is eight days past my five day transfer, and today would technically be 13 DPO, which is 'days past ovulation'. That means it's time to pee on a stick! Instead of my usual Amazon cheapie tests, today I have..." Rey reaches out of frame and brings up a pink and white box, holding it close to the lens so the camera can focus for a few seconds. "This! I know, I know, I'm getting fancy with a digital." Placing the box on the counter next to her, Rey continues, "Today is special because it is my boyfriend Poe's 36th birthday, and since he's out of town for work, I promised I would Skype him in to see the result."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advance for this incredibly self-indulgent crack!fic. The first chapter is a little shorter, they will be longer starting with chapter two.
> 
> If you're not a Rey/Poe shipper, don't worry. This is ultimately a Reylo fic.

After cracking her neck and taking a deep breath, Rey plasters a smile on her face and leans forward to turn on her camera. Immediately, she is  _Rey of Hope,_ her cheerful online persona. 

"Hi guys! Welcome back to my channel!" She offers an exuberant wave, making sure to keep her eyes on the lens and not the viewfinder. "If this is your first time watching one of my vlogs, my name is Rey and I make videos chronicling my TTC journey! I live with my boyfriend in Santa Monica, California and this is our fourteenth month of trying to conceive, but only our third month undergoing IVF. Today is Friday, June 8th. It is eight days past my five-day transfer, and today would technically be 13 DPO, which is 'days past ovulation'. That means it's time to pee on a stick! Instead of my usual Amazon cheapie tests, today I have..." Rey reaches out of frame and brings up a pink and white box, holding it close to the lens so the camera can focus for a few seconds. "This! I know, I know, I'm getting fancy with a digital." Placing the box on the counter next to her, Rey continues, "Today is special because it is my boyfriend Poe's 36th birthday, and since he's out of town for work, I promised I would Skype him in to see the result."

Her smile falters and Rey places a hand against her chest. "My heart is racing. I'm nervous," she laughs once, the sound shallow. "This has to work, right? So much has been leading up to this." Rey's gaze lands on a picture hanging on the wall behind where her camera is set up.

The picture frame is an inexpensive wooden one that Rey painted red, but the picture inside is what makes it special. Poe has his arms wrapped around her waist and looks down at her lovingly while she beams up at him. You can make out the Golden Gate Bridge in the golden light of the background.

That was the day he asked her to move in with him, three years ago. So many things have changed since then. One of the most obvious ways this shows is in Poe's smile. What used to be a deep, glorious grin now rarely reaches his eyes. The past year has put enormous pressure on their relationship.

Carefree evenings with the person you love turned into well-timed and concise "baby dancing". And when that didn't do the trick, Rey pleaded to try in vitro fertilization. After two sessions it became clear that the problem was coming from Poe's end. Picking out a sperm donor was almost like hammering the final nail into the coffin. Rey didn't know how much more their relationship could handle before it fell entirely apart. 

Forcing a smile, Rey brings her attention back to the camera. "So, I've already peed in a cup, and now I'm gonna...take this test." She nods firmly and reaches forward to pause the camera. 

It only takes her practiced hands a few moments to set the camera up on her countertop tripod. After making sure the entire bathroom counter is visible as well as where Rey will be standing, she presses  _record_. 

Angling her body toward the camera, Rey opens the box and pulls out a wrapped test. Her hands are shaking as she tears it open. 

Rey holds the test up to the camera briefly. "As you can see, it's a fresh test." Next to the sink is a small paper cup, which she proceeds to dip the tip of the stick into, counting off, "One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, four Mississippi, five." 

She places the test on the counter and looks into the lens once more. "Alright, I'm going to set a timer on my phone and call Poe." Bouncing lightly on her toes, Rey pulls her phone out of her back pocket and quickly opens the Clock app and sets it to go off in three minutes. She shows this to the camera as well before opening the Skype app. 

Poe's picture shows up at the top of the list with a green check mark, indicating that he's online. Just the sight of the man she loves makes Rey's expression relax, and she calls him. 

On the second ring, Poe picks up, his silver streaked dark curls an unruly mess on the pillow underneath his head. "Babe? Is everything alright?" He asks, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

Rey smiles and blurts out an enthusiastic "happy birthday" before looking at the camera to explain, "I keep forgetting, but there's a three-hour time difference between here and Hawaii." Focusing on her phone screen again, she apologizes, "Sorry for waking you up, sleepy head. But this couldn't wait!"

Poe sits up straight in bed, his eyes looking much more alert. "It took?!"

"That's what we're about to find out."

Smoothing his hair back, Poe nods a few times. "Okay. Okay. Cool."

"You don't sound nervous or anything," Rey teases, her tone much lighter than she's feeling.

"Sorry. I just have...a lot of conflicting feelings right now."

"Yeah," she practically whispers. Sliding up the notification bar, Rey announces, "A minute and a half left."

"Is the stick showing anything yet?" Poe asks, looking past Rey and into their bathroom. 

"I'm not supposed to look yet!"

"It couldn't hurt, right?"

"I mean..." Trailing off, Rey addresses her camera and thus, her future viewers. "I've held off on testing so far this month, because I've been really nervous to see another big fat negative. But as you know, I usually start checking on 9 DPO. It's been a struggle not to spend the past two weeks symptom spotting, especially with Poe being out of town. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but..." Swiping down the notifications again, her breath is shaky as she says, "Forty seconds."

Daring a glance at the test, Rey can see that all four loading bars are now flashing, indicating that the test is almost done processing. Chewing on her lower lip, she tells Poe, "I'm going to hold my phone over the test, so that you see it first, okay?"

"I don't know if I'll be able to see the lines through your shoddy front camera, babe-"

"It's digital, Poe. It'll either say 'pregnant' or 'not pregnant'," she says, cutting him off.

"Oh. Okay."

Wordlessly, Rey props the bottom of her phone onto the counter and supports it over the test before turning to face the camera. "Now that we're in the home stretch, there's this weird calm coming over me. Or maybe it's numbness, I don't know. Poe and I agreed that after this month, we were going to take a break," she says matter-of-factly. It takes her brain a moment to catch up with the words she's just spoken, and Rey quickly adds, "Not from each other! Just from TTC." Leaning closer to the camera lens, Rey clears her throat. "So, Donor 1138, wherever you are, I really hope you have some...effective  _product._ " 

"Babe," Poe's voice is muffled from the bottom speaker.

Half of her mouth slides up in a smile. "Poe doesn't like it when I talk about having a donor. He didn't even want to look through the Cyrobank's online catalog with me. I told him that the donor I picked didn't supply adult photos, just childhood ones, but it still weirds him out." Lowering her voice, Rey whispers conspiratorially, "Don't tell Poe, but I may have picked someone a good deal taller than him."

"Rey!"

"Sorry, sorry, I'm done talking about the donor," Rey says, turning towards her phone where it still blocks the test result panel.

"No, Rey, look at the kriffing stick!"

The urgency in her boyfriend's voice nearly causes Rey to drop the phone. "What does it say, Poe? You're making my stomach twist up in knots."

"Baby," he coos through the phone, suddenly sounding so much more like the patient man Rey knows best. "You did it. We're having a  _patojo!_ "

Rey visibly freezes in front of the camera, struck by the words she's dreamt of so many nights but not known to be possible. Bringing her phone back into view, she meets her boyfriend's eyes as best she can. "Don't mess with me, Poe Dameron. I cannot physically take it."

"I would never lie to you about this, babe. Look at the test."

Nodding slowly, Rey reaches for the test, her eyes shutting instinctively. When she opens them again, the word beams up at her, the happiest eight letters she has ever laid eyes on. 

**Pregnant.**


End file.
